I don't know what the best sequence is, but here is the sequence we have devised in the study group I attend:

Site Planning and Design
Construction Documents and Services
Programming Planning and Practice
Building Design and Construction Systems
Schematic Design
Building Systems
Structural Systems

SPD, CDS and PPP have a lot of overlapping information, so it's good to study for those in that order. As far as the most difficult I would assume it's probably your weakest subject. Out of the exams I have taken they all seemed more or less at the same level of difficulty in the multiple choice. The questions are tricky.

I hope that helps.

very helpful. thanks.

I took those practice tests on the NCARB website, gives you an idea of where you're at. The tests I did well on will probably be the ones I take first, and give me more times to study for the others. It's actually not much diffrent than what andmylegsarelong posted. Good luck.

From what I have gathered, Schematic Design is one of the easier ones. It's all vignettes so it's a bit easier to study for and it forces you to learn the ARE drafting software (which is awkward) early on.

After that just keep in mind that Program/Planning and Building Design are two of the most broad in topics so they overlap some of the other divisions. Construction Documents is the same way and is "the core of the ARE" so it's recommended to take that one early.

Also since you have to wait 6 months before you retest if you fail one of the exams, it's probably a good idea to take something like Structural early since it seems like the one most people will have trouble with. I know I will.

Depending on the state, you can establish the NCARB record during school and begin testing upon graduating. This may be helpful if you did well in Structural courses, Systems courses, etc. and want to take advantage of it while still being relatively fresh on your brain.

Otherwise, I agree with the order listed above.

^ too late for that.

What's too late for what? Just giving an example of possibly getting the tougher stuff out the way... obviously doesn't apply to every situation.

SD is easier in the sense that it is only a graphic exam, but it is one of the more difficult graphic exams due to the time constraint, amount of drawing, and objects to organize. You only have an hour to do a tight office layout with a lot of furniture. If you figure out half way through that your layout will not work you have little time to reorganize. The building layout is a bit easier, but still a lot of parts to organize. I wouldn't recommend taking this first because the software is cumbersome and your stress level will be slightly higher since it will be your first exam and the time constraint only exacerbates this. I would start with an exam with an easier graphic portion. Just my opinion.

I think the two sections with the highest fail rate are structures and site planning.

SD recommendation was based off several friends who have already started the exam process. My feeling, based on reading through the Kaplan study guides is that if you spend the time getting familiar with the software then it shouldn't be too bad. I agree that the interior layout portion will likely be stressful, but then again what exam isn't going to be?

I think the biggest thing is to not make your last exam something you are not fully confident you will pass. It would really suck to have all but one exam complete, fail the last one and then have to wait 6+ more months to finish the process (meanwhile paying NCARB more money).

A side note to all of this is to check with your local AIA chapter to see what resources they have available for the exams in the form of study manuals (ala Kaplan, etc) or review sessions. For the structural portion, local engineering firms often offer an annual review class.

^ but this doesn't apply to my situation.

Yes, check into the local AIA to see what they can offer. The local office here bought all of our study materials and let us meet their conference room.

Here's the order I took & passed them in:

SD - as long as spend enough time with the practice vignette you should be fine on this one, and by taking it first you really have an understanding of the software for the other tests, where in each case you have to jump into the vignette just after all the stressful MC questions

SS - figured this would be the hardest one to pass, so if I failed, the 6 month retake wait time would be taken up by the other exams

SPD - while there is overlap with CDS and PPP, there is also overlap with SS regarding everything that pertains to structure and the ground

BDCS

BS

CDS - definitely pair CDS and PPP together

PPP

There is however no perfect order, that order made sense to me at the time, ultimately choose the order that you are most comfortable with.

I was in a hurry to get through them all, so I took them all within a 5 month window which allowed for 3 to 4 weeks between each test, thereby keeping the info from previous tests relatively fresh in mind for subsequent tests, fortunately my company reimburses so I didn't have to bear the weight of the cost for very long.

good luck, even if you study well, you will come out of your first 3 or 4 MC tests feeling like there is at least a 50% chance you failed, and you'll feel like you going to get a solid pass

Check and recheck and recheck your vignettes, it would suck to have to retake all the multiple choice questions because of a simple oversight in the vignette.

and you'll never* feel like your going to get a solid pass

So for those that have taken the exams (4.0), how much does Architectural History actually show up in the exams? I've been making my way through the Kaplan study guide- the quizzes are surprisingly specific and detail oriented to the point of being unnecessary.

i think it's also helpful to begin studying a bit before even signing up for an initial exam. b/c PPP, SPD and CDS overlap, you really want to study general material for all three then dive into one specific test.

i don't know that i would take SPD first just b/c there are two vignettes and they are a bit trickier than the single vignettes in PPP and CDS.

ballast and archiflash are the most effective study materials IMO.

the history questions are the most random WTF questions on the test.

my first 3 are CDS, PPP, then SPD ...not sure about the rest ...as other people have said those three have alot of overlap ...

also make sure you post your vignettes on the ARE Forum ...ALOT of good study stuff is on the forum as well

My order was CDS, PPP, SD, SPD for my first 4
I passed the 1st 3 and am waiting on SPD

CDS, PPP, and SPD do seem to have a good amount of overlap



so far the vignettes have been very similar to the practice program ones, so you can easily tell how you are doing and should be able to be fairly comfortable with them when testing. The ARE forum is great for feedback on the vignettes, I agree.



I am not sure what order to do my last 3 (hopefully with not having to retake SPD). I am thinking structures next, just because i hear its a tough one, so i might give myself a little extra study time


I found it helpful to schedule a bunch at once, spaced 1-2 months apart, to force you to study and stay on track. Like someone said, you will most likely never "feel" great about getting a solid pass, and many times if you study first, then schedule the test, it can drag on forever

Structural System
MEP
Material and Methods (or whatever it's called in 4.0)
Const. documents
PPP
Site Planning and Design
Schematic Design

Do the hardones first! Towards the end, I started to loose steam. But since I only had the easy ones left, I was able to kock out three in a month.

Don't over study. Two weeks for each test is plenty!

I'll need 2 years to study for Structural!

I generally agree with Crazy but I'd do the easiest one (meaning the one where you feel most comfortable and experienced with the material) first, then the hard ones, then the remaining easy ones. Doing the easiest one first keeps you from putting it off forever, helps teach you not to over-study, and lets you get familiar with the testing process/style at a relatively low stress level.

Um....I really don't believe there is any true alchemy to the order in which the tests are taken.

The "strategy" of testing order is perhaps most useful if you are relying heavily on what you can study for on the test as compared to actual practical experience.

So with that being said, I would at least suggest that you should group PPP, CDS and SPD together somehow as they have overlapping subject areas. Beyond that, it comes down to your personal strengths, and whether you'd like to do the hardest stuff first or save it for last.

My test order was PPP, CDS, SPD, SD, BS, BDCS, SS.

Also agree on not giving yourself too much time - it's easy to drag out test prep for months. Set a date, set a study schedule, take the test. IMO, no test requires longer than 4-6 weeks to prepare for (some in as little as 2 weeks = SD).

I am taking them in this order: SS, CDS, PPP, SPD, SD, BDCS, BS..
I am done with the first 4 and about to take SD so far no problems with the order.
SS was done early to get it out of the way in case I failed.
CDS and PPP are similar. CDS also overlaps a little in other sections.
PPP and SPD overlap.
SD in the middle as a break in studying.

Look on AREforum this question of testing order gets asked regularly on there...

cherith - get a tutor!